He’s never been called an idiot. But did this Liberal Party operative outsmart himself?

For all that is said about Dallas McInerney – and a lot is said from both haters and boosters – nobody has ever called him an idiot. In his dual roles as Catholic Schools NSW chief executive and Liberal Party powerbroker, McInerney has proved a formidable, ruthless and highly intelligent tactician.

What the state’s corruption watchdog is wondering, though, is whether he has been too clever by half. At its simplest, the Independent Commission Against Corruption believes he has abused his position at Catholic Schools NSW and potentially broken donation laws by directing hundreds of thousands of dollars towards a conservative Christian branch-stacking operation. The schools body was also a cushy landing pad for political mates who needed jobs.

By mixing business with political pleasure he has found himself in the spotlight, rather than the shadows where he prefers to operate. McInerney’s appearance before the ICAC is a body blow for a man who has had more influence over the education of millions of Catholic school students than any other person for a decade.

McInerney will return to the witness box on Wednesday for a fresh set of questions. His two days of evidence last week featured plenty of embarrassing moments and curiously vague answers. But the ICAC is yet to produce a smoking gun that definitively proves he orchestrated or knew of the scheme. Based on what we know, prosecutors may be far from convinced that this is a slam-dunk case of electoral fraud.

McInerney’s detractors would have to admit he has been an equal match for, if not outgunned by, senior counsel assisting Juliet Curtin. “We have a very intelligent witness in the box,” Commissioner Fabian Gleeson, SC, noted at one point on Friday.

Even if he avoids an adverse finding in the ICAC’s final report, it’s unlikely McInerney will return to Catholic Schools NSW. He is now radioactive to his friend and supporter Archbishop Anthony Fisher, and the church would probably be looking for a Labor-aligned figure to take over, given the party seems entrenched at a state and federal level.

The former National Australia Bank executive’s uninterrupted run of power in politics and education came to an abrupt halt earlier this year when he was summonsed to attend a compulsory private examination at the ICAC’s Elizabeth Street headquarters on June 16. Operation Rosny was publicly announced two weeks later. The inquiry had been an open secret within Macquarie Street but many were surprised – if perhaps not shocked – to see McInerney as a key person of interest.

The ICAC alleges up to $265,000 in schools funding was diverted to two companies: Beckington and JPG Advisory. Beckington was run by Christian Ellis, a key figure behind a conservative Liberal Party sub-faction named the Reformers. The other partner in the business was lobbyist and former political staffer Jeremy Greenwood .